Now and Then: an AU BrittanaFaberry adventure
by hemofosho
Summary: Based on the excellent movie Now and Then, this story follows Santana, Quinn, Brittany, and Rachel through their unforgettable tale of adventure, mystery, and friendship in the summer of 1970. Split between 1970 childhood and reuniting as adults in 1995.
1. Red Rover

**Disclaimer: I don't have any rights to Glee or Now and Then, except the right to fucking love it**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: Red Rover<strong>

**Opening Music: Stevie Wonder- Signed Sealed Delivered**

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><p><em>Summer 1970<em>

Cheers filled the air as the four girls stared at the every growing chain in front of them. They had just lost their 5th teammate and as they share grim glances at each other, they know this next turn is do or die.

Quinn breaks the silence, "Alright, who's it gunna be?"

The girls all turn and look across at the endless line of faces. Decisions, decisions…they needed this one, who was their best shot?

Santana feels like a chump with what she's about to say, but she knows it's their only real shot. She turns to her three best friends and put it out there. "Kurt Hummel."

Rachel gags, "Gross! He's always picking his nose, and eating his boogers!"

Quinn gives Santana a slight nod, "So what- he's a wimp."

The girls internally sigh, but agree as they turn around to face their fate.

"Red rover red rover send Kurt Hummel right over!" groans immediately filled the air as the other team is annoyed that the girls took the easy way out, but they're still rooting for their team so the groans steadily change into cheers for Kurt. The small boy gathers himself up and looks at the four girls with a bit of fear but he gathers his courage and starts running full force towards the chain of girls.

Santana and Brittany flank Rachel and Quinn, as Kurt speeds towards the Rachel-Quinn connection, knowing that if he has any shot at all, it's near Rachel… and he DEFINITELY doesn't want a piece of Santana. The girls brace themselves; Santana throws out her best glare and Britt holding tightly onto Quinn's hand bubbling at the excitement of the moment.

Rachel stumbles for a moment as Kurt collides into them, but a quick glance into Quinn's eyes and the tight squeeze on her hand from Santana and she feels a surge of adrenaline, and they hold their ground, throwing the small boy to the ground in front of them. Ecstatic, the motley crew of best friends' cheers, whoops, and yells their victory; even Quinn and Santana forgetting their badass facades and letting the pure joy of the moment overcome them.

Lying flat on his back, Kurt looks up at the gleeful faces of Santana, Rachel, Quinn, and Brittany jumping up and down with pure excitement, and sighs.

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><p><strong>Author's Note: This is an AU crack fic of the 1995 movie Now and Then. It was one of my favorite movies growing up, being that Now and Then is pretty much the defining coming of age movie for girls who grew up in the 90's. I've only recently gotten into reading fanfics because of Glee, and I thought I would try my hand at turning this most excellent movie into a BrittanaFaberry story for us all. Please bear with me, as I'm an architect not a writer, and I hope you all enjoy!**


	2. A Promise is a Promise

**Disclaimer: I don't have any rights to Glee or Now and Then, except the right to fucking love it**

**A/N: This chapter was edited a bit and resubmitted, hope it doesn't throw anyone for a loop it was just a minor detail.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: A Promise is a Promise<strong>

**Song: Sophie B. Hawkins- As I Lay Me Down**

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><p><em>Summer 1995<em>

Thomas Wolfe once said, you can't go home again. Well that's great for old Tom, but he wasn't a chick who made a pact with her friends when she was 12 to get together whenever anyone of us needed each other. So here I am driving back to my childhood home in Lima, Ohio. A place I can tell you I never wanted to see again. I guess a promise is a promise.

"Sure looks like I picked the wrong week to quit smoking…" , Santana lamented with a sigh as she shook out yet another box from the carton. She pushed in a cassette and settled back as she thought back to the phone call she had received a week earlier, and resigned herself to the long drive ahead.

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><p>"Hi it's Santana, deliberately avoiding your call. Leave it at the beep."<p>

::beeeeep::

"Hello? I wasn't sure that was your number until I heard that message now I know it must be you. It's me, Rachel, I wasn't expecting, that is, expecting a child and expecting you to show up like promised with the old gang, oh well, not old, but at least older. Let me know if, I mean I hope when, you're coming in. "After all, a promise is a promise!"

Santana's mind traveled back to her old comrades— Rachel, who had left the message that was bringing her to reminisce, was the picture of consistency. She was still living back in their hometown, still in the same house she grew up in, still wearing the same out of style skirts and dresses, and still best friends with Quinn. In high school she started singing and acting in school plays, and although she never got the big break Brittany did, she had found her passion. She now taught Home Ec at their old high school, and was the supervisor of the school's drama club.

Quinn Fabray had left their hometown for college to study medicine like her mother, but followed her heart back home once she had finished school to set up her own practice. She had always been the tomboy, but had a softness to her that she didn't let many people see. Santana had always felt a particular kinship with Quinn, they both had to deal with issues beyond their years, and that added hardship made them both a little wiser and a little tougher than the others. Quinn now worked as an Ob-Gyn, which Santana would have more than a few jokes ready to be cracked when she saw her.

Santana's mind wandered to the final member of their little troupe. Although all four girls were best friends and she had that kinship with Quinn, her closest friend from the group had been Britt. Brittany Pierce was the blonde bombshell of the group and her contagiously bubbly persona had led to the entertainment world falling in love with her. After getting featured as Most Fashionable Teen in Teen Vogue, the world got hooked on one Ms. Brittany S. Pierce. Now a famous actress, she was fan favorite for her loveable demeanor… and her mile long legs didn't hurt either, Santana mused, getting a bit of a dreamy look in her eye.

Santana sighed as she finished playing back the message. It had been twenty five years since she made that promise, and 19 years since they had all gone their separate ways into adulthood, but it looked like her past was finally catching up to her. She thought back to her old friends, and sighed once again. She had loved them and let them in emotionally more than anyone else in her life. Going back home meant not only facing her friends, but facing herself.

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><p>Quinn was just finishing picking up supplies for the barbeque at Rachel's later that day. As she was loading the brown paper bags into the trunk of her Subaru, out of the corner of her eye she saw a basketball heading her way and she smoothly shifted the bags in her arms to free up her right hand. She deftly caught the ball, which had come from two teenagers she knew through Rachel working at the high school. Quinn would pick Rachel up from work after Rachel had finished her extra help section with the goons in front of her. Azimio and Mike were both on the basketball team, and were both awful in the kitchen. Principal Figgins had asked Rachel to tutor them, as he needed his star basketball players to keep the booster money coming in. Quinn didn't particularly like Azimio- his wisecracks were immature and simple and Quinn took every chance she could get to one up his sarcasm with a bit of sophisticated flair to keep him in his place. Mike Chang, on the other hand, Quinn had to admit she had a soft spot for. Always with a big grin on his face Mike took so naturally to the game it was amazing to watch him play. Quinn was an avid basketball enthusiast, and went to all of the high school games, remembering fondly her days on the court kicking ass and taking names. Mike was the most exciting player to come to Lima in a long while, just watching his body move with a cat-like agility reinvigorated her love for the game. Quinn liked to hang out in the classroom waiting for Rachel to finish, and in doing so she had grown fairly close with the boys.<p>

"Hey Doc, wanna play some b-ball?" said Mike with a grin as he stepped off the curb. Quinn tossed the ball back to him after expertly spinning the ball on one finger.

"Hey, not today, way too busy" she replied as she glanced down at the beeper going off on her belt. Quinn put down the remaining bags in her arms and walked over to the payphone and popped a quarter.

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><p>"<em>If you should ever find someone new<br>I know he'd better be good to you  
>'Cos if he doesn't, I'll be there"<em>

Rachel sang as she worked on getting her hair to curl just right.

_"Don't you know, baby, yeah yeah  
>I'll be there, I'll be there, just call my name, I'll be there"<br>_

She heard the doorbell ring and as she stood to go answered it she hollered "Be right there!" at the impatient dinging she knew was Quinn.

_"Just look over your shoulders, honey – ooh!"_

As she turned to walk out of her bedroom she looked back at the mirror and with a dramatic flair popped out her stomach, which at just shy of nine months pregnant was a force to be reckoned with.

Entering the kitchen to see Quinn after she had inevitably gotten impatient and jimmied the lock, Rachel greeted her with a smile and a kiss on the cheek as Quinn shuffled in, arms overflowing with groceries.

"Hey, saw the Jiffy Pop and thought of you", as she handed Rachel her favorite pregnancy craving. Rachel had gotten lucky that the baby craved popcorn, which was a snack she could handle with her vegan diet. "Don't go near the stove, you may burst."

"Ha ha, very funny Quinn. But if this baby doesn't come soon I'm going to have to reach in there and yank it out myself", replied Rachel with a bit of her own snark.

"Ooh that'll be pretty" Quinn said with a laugh.

Rachel reached into the nearest bag to start unloading, and found the latest People magazine on top, which just so happened to have a picture of Brittany Pierce on the front cover. "Can you believe this tramp?" Rachel said with annoyance at the amount of scantily clad Brittany she was looking at. She was a bit bitter at the fact that Brittany had made it big, and Quinn had been wondering how quickly it would take for Rachel's jealous side to show once Brittany arrived. "Now what is it that she has that gets people so excited?"

"Long legs, a tiny waist, and perky breasts" replied Quinn matter of factly.

"Quinn you know how I feel about swearing" Rachel said with a sigh.

"Perky breast is not a dirty word"

"Can't hear you"

"Breast."

"Can't hear you"

"Breast."

"Can't hear you!"

"BREEEAASSSTT!" Quinn sang out in a sing-song manner.

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><p><strong>Author's Note: Last night I was just super excited to get this started, which was why chapter 1 was so short, hopefully chapter was a bit more pleasing in length. Faberry plot starts earlier in the story since Roberta and Krissy's adult lives are more closely related in the beginning, but never fear Brittana fans, it will definitely pick up as the story continues.<strong>

**PS- Each chapter song will be from the movie, if you don't recognize this one, it's the song on Sam's cassette in the car.**


	3. It's Been Too Damn Long

**Disclaimer: I don't have any rights to Glee or Now and Then, except the right to fucking love it**

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><p><strong>Chapter 3: It's Been Too Damn Long<strong>

**Song: Michael Jackson- I'll Be There**

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><p>Santana grumbled internally as she trudged across the perfectly manicured, annoyingly green lawn lugging her suitcase with her. She took a moment to light up a cigarette to calm her nerves. She took a deep drag, and exhaled slowly as she resigned herself to sucking up her apprehension and ringing the doorbell. She heard a chime echoing inside the house and after a few seconds, the door swung open and Quinn stepped out, with a knowing, welcoming smile. She knew coming home would be rough for Santana, and wanted her first moments here to feel warm and reassuring.<p>

"Hey, good to see you" Quinn said, still smiling.

"Hey, how you doing?" offered Santana at the same time.

Santana approached the hug timidly, but Quinn scooped her into a big bear hug.

"Picture!" Since becoming pregnant Rachel had insisted on documenting every step of the journey, much to Quinn's chagrin. The two old friends turned back towards Rachel and smiled, humoring her.

"And you!" Santana pointed to Rachel's stomach.

Rachel shrugged her shoulders with a happy grin. "Thanks for coming" as she squeezed Santana tight.

::honk honk::

The trio turned towards the abrupt noise that had startled their hellos, only to see a white stretch limo pull into the driveway.

Rachel gasped. "Oh WOW!"

As the car pulled to a stop, Britt stepped out of the back of the car wearing an impossibly short skirt, and her trademark quirky grin and slammed the door.

"Hey Bitches!"

Rachel's face immediately fell into shock while Quinn and Santana laughed with goofy smirks on their faces. It felt good that some things hadn't changed at all, thought Santana as she sighed with contentment and a grin.

"Good Lord!" Rachel exclaimed when she finally shook her initial shock at Brittany's arrival.

Quinn stepped up, "How you doing Brittany?"

"Good Quinny!" After hugging the tomboy-turned-doctor she looked up at Rachel and squealed. "Oh wow look at your belly!"

Rachel put her hands on her hips and with a broad grin she replied "Brittany S. Pierce!" in a teasing way. Brittany giggled. "Oh Brit-Brit-Brit-Brit-Brit!" Rachel said as she smothered Brittany in a huge hug. Brittany giggled again. Then she turned to face Santana and slowly but confidently walked up to her, beaming at her old best friend.

Santana gazed backing adoringly at the approaching figure, taking the time to gaze and appreciate Brittany's long legs, tiny waist, and damn those breasts look perky in that outfit, thought San with a slight blush. She had always thought Brittany to be the most beautiful person she had ever seen, and as she thought back over the past decade she realized in every one of Brittany's films which she had of course seen, even the pampering and glitz and glam of Hollywood cinema didn't do her justice. Brittany was even more stunning in real life; Santana had almost forgotten. Almost, but not quite. There was always something unforgettable about Brittany, Santana mused.

In the background they heard Rachel snapping another picture of Quinn as she carried all of Brittany's luggage up to the house. "Picture! No you look good!" Quinn's protesting muttering could be heard as Rachel bounced around with her camera enthusiastically.

"It's good to see you Britt", Santana spoke warmly.

"Yeah, it's been too damn long" Brittany said looking Santana up and down with a grin before settling happily into a close hug with Santana.

The pair was broken up by the sound of Rachel's voicing, encouraging them to come into the house. They stepped inside, and Rachel let out a little "Ta-da!"

"Woahh, time warp!" chuckled Santana. As they looked around the living room they were met with ochre colored walls, china vases, and flower-patterned furniture- a straight up blast from the past.

"Wow, it looks exactly like it did when your dads lived here!" Britt exclaimed.

"Well you know what they say, like gay dads- like daughter" Rachel beamed in reply. "Oh what can I get you two to drink?" she offered, ever the hostess.

Santana went immediately to her default. "A Jack Daniels would be great." She thought a little alcohol might take the edge off this time bomb of an experience.

Britt gave her a strange look and then turned towards Rachel. "I don't want to drink a man, but I'd love a whiskey!"

Santana's mouth quirked at the double entendre as Rachel's face fell. "We don't keep hard liquor in the house…" a slightly awkward silence ensued, as each of the visiting women bumbled over their words trying to quickly break the awkwardness of the moment.

"Oh whatever you have, anything's fine" Santana tried to recover while Britt nodded in agreement.

Quinn offered, "We have beer?"

Santana relaxed into a smile and quickly responded in tandem with Brittany- "Great."

Rachel visibly lost a bit of the tension she had on her face, as Quinn smiled and nodded in response. Rachel turned towards the kitchen while throwing "Be back in a jiffy!" over her shoulder back at her guests.

Brittany and Santana moved to sit down on the couch, to discover part of the reason why the house looked so immaculately identical to it's' furnishings 25 years ago… plastic slip covers. Britt squirmed a bit unpleasantly as the cold, sticky plastic hit her high on her legs. She shifted uncomfortably to the edge of the sofa to try and get as far off away from the plastic as possible.

Ahhh, thought Santana. And so it begins.

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><p>A little while later, the four women had migrated to the backyard where they were enjoying a barbeque.<p>

"I can't believe you kept this" Santana started with a chuckle as she gazed up at the pink and white treehouse nestled perfectly above the yard.

"My dads wanted to tear it down and put in a doughboy, but I just couldn't part with it! Besides, it's not mine to tear down… it belongs to all of us." Rachel explained, as Santana and Brittany exchanged amused glances. Rachel voice broke a bit with emotion and she fanned her face a bit trying to get rid of her imminent tears, "I… I really want to thank you guys for showing up."

"Hey don't worry about it Rachel" Quinn interjected, as she climbed down the treehouse ladder from where she had been perched. "I think you'll make a great mom. A little overbearing and rigid," Santana smirked, "but by the grace of God the kid'll come out relatively unharmed, And if not—there's always therapy."

The women busted out laughing and made their way over to the lawn furniture, and two swings dangling from the immense tree the playhouse was balanced in. Rachel reclined her legs, and took up residence on the lounge chair, as Santana and Britt took their customary place on the swings. Quinn sat on the lawn stool besides the lounge chair.

"Oh I can't believe you're having a baby Rachel—it makes me feel very old." Britt sighed as she swung slightly back and forth.

Santana chimed in. "This whole baby thing baffles me. I mean you have it. You raise it. You inevitably screw it up. It resents you, feels guilty for resenting you", Rachel made a circular crazy motion near her head towards Quinn, "then it has a baby, which only perpetuates the vicious cycle."

"Thank you Oscar the Grouch!" Quinn announced, as the other women fell once again into laughter, Britt giggling uncontrollably.

When the chuckles had died down, Britt turned towards Santana, curious, eyes sparkling, "So San, what are you working on now?"

Santana had become a writer, never really losing her childhood fascination with the supernatural. Her books were a little out there, but the science fiction world ate up her stories greedily, quickly making her a bestseller.

"My tan" Santana replied with a laugh.

Rachel chimed in, "If you ask me you ought to write a book about something people can relate to. I didn't understand half of that 'Aliens Next Door' thing I read."

"She'll take that as a compliment" Brittany said with a wink, as laughter broke out once again.

Rachel started again, determined to win Santana over. "Why don't you write a romance novel? Like… Danielle Steel. Now there's a lady who knows how to write a page turner."

"Oooh yeah." Could be heard coming from Quinn, who was secretly a fan of romance novels. The raunchier the better, but she kept that to herself.

Britt and Santana chuckled at this as Rachel looked over at Quinn with a sigh. "It's true Quinn—the longer they're gone, the weirder they get."

Quinn rose to stand behind the swings, pushing them gently. "I'd just like to see you guys more often." Brittany and Santana exchanged glances. "Now what's it been huh? Ten years since you've been back?" Quinn challenged to Santana.

"Don't give me any grief."

Rachel piped up as always with her two cents. "Quinn has chosen to remain—alternative. She left Lima to go to college, and swears like a sailor, but she's still normal."

"Yes I'm normal" Quinn confirmed with a nod and a smile.

Rachel continued, "She hasn't had four failed marriages, or an endless series of monotonous relationships… or wear BLACK… she's happy." Rachel spit out the color with some bite, as she detested the color in clothing, and also loved to nag Santana a bit.

"Technically I have only been married three times, the first time was analled." Britt declared with a nod.

Santana smirked and gently said, "I think you mean annulled Britt" as she watched Brittany scrunch up her nose, cock her head to the side and think about it. She turned back towards Rachel. "See?" she dramatically grinned, challenging Rachel.

"Oh you two just think everything is so funny" Rachel replied as the two women giggled again. "If you ask me, you both need to grow up" she said with an air of teasing, feigned superiority.

Santana though, took her statement a bit heavier than Rachel had intended and exhaled deeply as she pumped her legs to swing higher and higher looking up into the blue sky through the strong branches of the mighty tree she was suspended from. "Maybe you're right…"

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><p><strong>AN: Blueskkies- I promise this is a happy ending! And you FOR REAL need to watch this movie ASAP. If you can't find the DVD, a good version of it can be found on YouTube, broken into 10 parts. No matter how it happens- get it done. It will become an instant favorite—Promise #2.**

**Wonderwall85- I'm so glad to hear that you like my pairings and that the story sounds believable! Most of the dialogue so far has actually been taken straight from the movie, which, I think it is pretty amazing how well the story translates to our four girls. Hopefully my tweaks seem believable too!**

**I'm super happy that most of you are sharing in my nostalgia and enjoying the story!**


	4. No Matter What I Do

**Disclaimer: I don't have any rights to Glee or Now and Then, except the right to fucking love it**

**A/N: Unless otherwise stated, assume that when the story is written in the first person it is Santana narrating.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 4: No Matter What I Do They Just Keep Getting Bigger!<br>**

**Song: The Monkees- Daydream Believer**

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><p><em>Summer 1970<em>

The summer of 1970 started out like any other. School ended and we had three months of freedom ahead of us. But that year freedom wasn't enough; we wanted independence- a place to call our own. That's why we decided to buy the treehouse, and the quest to earn the money was our summer goal.

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><p>Brittany and Santana soared off the swings, almost hitting some of the low hanging branches in Rachel's backyard.<p>

"I win Sanny! I totally jumped higher!"

"Come on Britt I'll race you to the kitchen!" and with that Santana took off running, followed closely by Brittany then Quinn, and not so closely by Rachel, who had excellent lung capacity from all her singing lessons but spent more time cooped up practicing than she did running around like the other three.

As they sped through the kitchen, Quinn actually wound up winning, her previous summers being spent as the reigning champ at stealing bases playing in the boys softball league easily allowed her to best the other girls. She smirked at Santana, who collided into the island in the kitchen not able to slow down in time and arrived a close second. Britt loped into the kitchen right behind Santana, who watched her with amusement in her eyes. Brittany didn't run like everyone else, she had a natural gracefulness that made her look like a gazelle when she ran. In all honesty she could have probably beaten Quinn in a race, but Britt was always too distracted by the shiny wind chimes in the yard, or the robin's chirping, or the spinning rainbow pinwheel, or the ducks on the side of the road, or…

"Race you to the Ice Cream Shoppe!" yelled Britt as she never slowed and ran straight past them through the living room and out the front door to their bikes waiting outside.

The girls all jumped on their bikes and raced down the street and out of their housing development towards Main Street. The four of them lived in Lima Heights Adjacent. It was a dream neighborhood—a brand new, preplanned community, built when new was in, and old was out.

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><p>A flashlight illuminated the darkened room, where Santana sat up silently reading The Babysitter's Club past her bedtime. It was her guilty pleasure- she loved Stacey for being a sophisticated badass, and secretly had a huge crush on Dawn. The black walls deadened the reflection of light, and you could barely see the poster of the planets directly above the bed from the soft glow below. The crystal ball on her desk she had gotten for her birthday caught a glimmer from her flashlight, creating a fractured swirling pattern within.<p>

Nestled in bed, Santana could hear her parents fighting through the door, their attempt at hushed tones failing, creating a monotonous dull roar that went on for hours. Her parents had been fighting for as long as she could remember. It never bothered her though, it was the opposite actually. There was comfort in consistency.

The door cracked open and a sliver of bright light shot into the room. From where she was, Santana could see her little sister Mercedes standing in her long nightgown looking at her silently and longingly, with a pleading look on her face.

"Come on Weezy" Santana groaned with a smile as she lifted up the covers to let the younger girl in to cuddle with her.

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><p>A different kind of fighting was the soundtrack at Quinn's house; bangs, yelps, cheers, and slamming into walls is the status quo when your home is filled with teenage boys. Quinn grew up with her dad and three older brothers, her mother died when she was four. A beautiful older woman's smiling face beamed from a photograph tucked into the frame of Quinn's mirror. Quinn never left the house without that picture.<p>

"No matter what I do they just keep getting bigger!" Quinn scowled at her reflection as she stood in jean shorts and a bra, grabbing her chest and attempting to smoosh her boobs flatter. She growled in frustration as she twisted and turned, her taut abs writhing and tensed, as she fought a losing battle against Mother Nature. She picked up a roll of tape from the top of her dresser. The sharp noise of peeling tape pierced through the rowdy noise of her brothers wrestling in the hallway, as Quinn proceeded to wrap herself tightly across her chest. After four full circulations around her body she was as satisfied as she was going to get and ripped off the end. She glared once again at her reflection, picked up the flannel shirt off her bed and threw it on quickly, buttoning only the upper two buttons as she raced out the door to get to softball practice on time.

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><p>Across the street Brittany was playing make believe in her bright orange room as her parents served afternoon cocktails to their ritzy friends. Brittany was an only child. Her parents were country clubbers, never around really. Typical upbringing for actors or pathological liars. She spun around the room, adorned with large paste jewelry pretending to be just that; an actress that is. Today's role playing was movie star on the red carpet and she danced around the room with her cat Lord Tubbington in her arms, because of course, he was her date.<p>

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><p>A faint breeze wafted through the window into the carnation pink room where Rachel sat perched in front of the mirror. Photographs of her friends and Judy Garland were placed neatly in matching frames. Next to the photograph of the foursome on the table in front of her was a ballerina music box, a bottle of perfume, and a blooming potted plant which matched the flower patterned duvet spread across her bed. Rachel really loved themes.<p>

"Ninety-three…ninety-four…ninety-five…." Rachel counted as she carefully brushed her hair. To reach the proper level of softness Rachel felt strongly that one hundred strokes on each side was both necessary and appropriate. She heard a knock on the door and saw one of her fathers standing in the doorway.

"Hey sweetie, can I come in?" he asked as he took a step into the room.

"Of course Daddy!" Rachel placed the brush softly down and turned on the bench to face her father who came to sit down next to her. Her father Hiram smiled fondly at his daughter. She had insisted on brushing her hair the exact same way since she was three years old, and whenever he saw her doing it, he was reminded of his little girl. He cleared his throat in dreaded anticipation as he remembered why he was there, and a forced tight smile took over his previously softer expression.

"You know what Rachel, I've been thinking…about what you asked me."

Rachel looked up with her father with earnest eyes and in order to encourage him on said simply, "About sex."

Hiram cleared his throat again uncomfortably and said, "Yes dear. You say that very casually, that's very scary for Daddy. It's like somebody going BOO ah! That's what sex is."

Retaining the simple earnest look on her face Rachel winced a bit, "I'm sorry Daddy."

"Well it's alright", he replied after a slight hesitation. "I believe you're too young to be informed but since your friends are trash mouths I'd rather you hear the facts, from me. This is going to come as a shock to you but," he glanced to the table in front of him and sighing a bit in relief, then reaching to pick up the potted flower. "This is a flower right? Well, every woman", he cleared his throat again, "has a garden. And a garden needs…" he struggles to come up with an analogy to get through this with as little pain as possible, "a big hose to water it. Or a small hose, as long as it works."

As a direct result of this conversation, Rachel will spend a significant part of her adult life obsessed with gardening.

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><p>The four girls walked out of the front of Santana's house and as they proceeded across the lawn, they saw four racing bikes approaching; smug looks plastered all over the faces of the riders. Those are the Wormers. Everyone in the neighborhood felt sorry for their mother. Like Rachel, Quinn, Santana and Brittany, the Wormers also had a summer goal- it was to make the girls' lives miserable. They were the enemy.<p>

Quinn stepped up, hands on her hips and greeted them with a challenging sneer as they slowed nearing the curb. "Hey wormy Wormers!"

"NOW!" yelled Finn, the oldest brother and the ringleader, as all four boys let loose and started chucking balloons filled with something that was _definitely_ not water.

As the first balloons broke on Britt's stomach a green goop squirted out, covering her orange tank top in a messy, clashing explosion.

"Jello!" Brittany squealed as she tried to dodge the next barrage of balloons Sam and Artie were aiming at her. She wriggled gracefully out of the way, dancing around the incoming bombs with a mix of delight and horror in her voice as she continued to squeal.

"I swear she's the only person who can WRIGGLE gracefully", Santana thought to herself as she side stepped an attack from Finn keeping the tall blonde in her sights out of the corner of her eye.

The boys didn't let up after they chucked the two balloons they had held in their hands as they rode up, they immediately reached into the basket on the front of Noah's, the second brother, bike where they had apparently stashed a stockpile of fresh ammo. Noah grabbed one and wailed it at Rachel as she let loose a shriek, "Not the nose!"

Quinn deftly grabbed Rachel by the shoulders, and pushed herself and the screaming girl to the ground, expertly dodging Noah's balloon, which was quickly followed by both Finn and Sam's. Quinn somehow managed to cushion Rachel's fall, sacrificing herself to the bumps and bruises ahead, to protect her. With adrenaline coursing through her veins, Quinn immediately recuperated and jumped up at lightning speed and began chasing after the boys.

"Go! Go! Go! Go!" yelled Finn, and all four boys jumped onto their bikes, scrambling to race away. Quinn neared Finn's bike, with a coon tail flag flapping from above his rear tire. She launched herself at him, and for a second Santana thought she had him, before she flopped onto the pavement, Finn just out of reach, no doubt picking up an assortment of scrapes along the way. The three other girls gasped, scared she was hurt but she popped right back up again, hollering after them.

"We owe you Wormers! And we ALWAYS pay our debts!"

Finn turned as he peddled away and with a gloating sneer he yelled back, "Yeah like we're really afraid of a bunch of girls!"

"YEAH YOU SHOULD BE!" she bellowed after them, as Rachel and Santana each took an arm and had to forcibly restrain her from running after him again.

They were all furious and looking forward to revenge, well except maybe Britt who had gotten distracted rolling around in the jello-filled lawn, squealing with delight.

"Don't worry Quinn, we're gunna nail them", Santana reassured her. "Next time, their ass is grass."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: Do you guys like the meld so far between the movie characters and their Glee counterparts? Do you think it's not enough, too much, or just right of a mix between personalities? Input appreciated.<strong>

**Also question! Who would you like to see as Wiladene? I'm super torn between Tina, Holly, and April. If I go with April, it'll be more of a she's-strange-cause-she's-drunk-and-says-weird-things type of a character and with Tina, it will play off her whole goth side, and Wiladene will retain the creepy, mysterious witch factor. I'm leaning towards Holly for the Vietnam Vet, but she crossed my mind for Wiladene as well. Let me know what you think!**

**Atthis- Fun fact: Rosie stated in an interview back in the day that the character of Roberta was actually supposed to be a lesbian, but at the last minute they changed it, and added the line in the adult timeline about "she lives in sin with her boyfriend". I'm pretty sure Rosie was pissed haha.**


	5. Dry Up Like a Prune

**Disclaimer: I don't have any rights to Glee or Now and Then, except the right to fucking love it**

**A/N: Sorry this took so long to crank out, it was a crazy week and I got excited with some ideas for new fics that I started writing. I promise I'll try and update more regularly.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 5: Before You Dry Up Like a Prune<strong>

**Song: Nancy Sinatra- These Boots Were Made for Walking**

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><p>Santana looks out the large glass window from where she's perched in the booth of the Ice Cream Shoppe out at the bustling main street of her hometown. There's two little children, a brother and a sister, dancing around their mother pushing a stroller as they try tag each other 'it'. Across the street was the chapel and she could see Charlie the older boy from down the street who isn't so much a boy anymore, taking wedding photos with his new bride. The postman drove past the Ice Cream Shoppe and Santana was snapped out of her people watching daze by Brittany calling her name.<p>

"Santana. Santana… Santana!"

"Hm?" Santana's head whipped around to meet shining eyes looking at her inquisitively.

"The quiz San? What's your pick?" Brittany asked.

Santana grimaced sheepishly, "I'm sorry Britt, could you repeat the question?"

Brittany looked back down into the Cosmo magazine in her hands and began again. "Your idea of foreplay is:

A- A candlelit dinner and moonlit walk on the beach

B- Making out on a bear skin rug at a local mountain cabin

C- Watching a sexy movie or

D- All of the above"

Santana thought for a second as her eyes flickered up to meet Brittany's eyes. "B," she replied as she looked back down at the book in her hands, feeling anxious that a blush was spreading across her face after her brief eye contact with Brittany.

Quinn crinkled her nose in a mix of disapproval and disgust, "E- none of the above."

"Quinn" Brittany said firmly, "that is not a possible answer."

Quinn rolled her eyes and sighed. "Well B I guess…"

Rachel piped up as she finished counting out the money that had been haphazardly stuffed in an old coffee tin covered in stickers, decorated by Brittany of course, and a label that read 'Tree House Money!' written out in rainbow markers, "Definitely A."

This time it was Santana who rolled her eyes, "Surprise surprise" she jibed at Rachel, who of course picked the prudest option.

"I pick D! All of the above" Brittany exclaimed with a mischievous grin.

Rachel side-eyed Santana and mumbled a retort to Quinn who was grinning knowingly, "Surprise surprise."

Santana who had missed Rachel's glance in her direction looked up once again from her book and noticed that Rachel had finished counting. "So how much more do we need?"

"Twenty-three more dollars and the tree house is ours" Rachel beamed with a big smile. She loved being in charge of the money and took great pride in the responsibility the other girls had bestowed on her, knowing that Rachel would be the most fastidious of the group.

Brittany squealed happily bouncing in her seat and exclaimed "Hey I have a great idea! I say the first night we get it we have a slumber party!" Santana grinned up at her and all of the girls nodded happily in agreement.

"Whoa San, get a load of your mom" Quinn interrupted as she saw Santana's mother out of the corner of her eye. April, which Santana's mother insisted they call her because she said the formality of Mrs. made her feel old, had just finished parking her car and just slammed the door shut with her butt with a sexy side nudge.

"How short are those shorts?" Rachel gasped.

"How tall are those boots?" Brittany said admiringly.

Santana just watched her mother strut down the pavement and out of view. Earlier that summer, much to Santana's dismay and confusion, April had begun to dress like Nancy Sinatra.

"Wow, your mom is so cool" Brittany said staring after her. Santana didn't miss the way Britt's eyes lingered over April's legs and Santana's eyes narrowed at the implication.

Santana changed the subject as quickly as she could. "Hey you guys there's a full moon tonight- the festival of the spirits who come back to earth to walk among the living."

Right at that moment their waitress walked up carrying a tray with their orders. She had jet black hair and wore dark, heavy eye makeup. The nametag pinned onto the front of her yellow work blouse read Tina. "Four black cows- that'll be a dollar sixty boys" she said with an intense stare and she handed over the four mugs with two scoops of vanilla ice cream in each, and four glass bottles of Coca-Cola.

Rachel annoyed with the irritability the waitress always displayed to them retorted, "We're girls" very matter-of-factly with a bit of a bite to her words as she handed her two one dollar bills.

Tina only intensified her stare, pausing a moment to really glare into Rachel's eyes, "I know." And with that, she spun around on her heels and walked back behind the counter.

Rachel shook her shoulders as if trying to get rid of a cloud of creepiness that had descended upon her. "She is SO off", she complained with an uneasy shiver.

Quinn begins pouring the colas into the mugs and distributing them amongst the girls.

"Well what do you expect?" replied Brittany mysteriously, "She's a witch."

"I swear!" Brittany proclaimed as she noticed all three of her friends quirking their eyebrows in her direction. "She's got voodoo dolls and everything. I saw them. And hear this- one of the dolls looked exactly like Principal Figgins and you know what- there was a needle sticking right in the middle of his heart." She watched their eyebrows change from doubt to concern as she continued, "I saw it the morning before he had his heart attack."

The girls exchanged uneasy glances and were snapped out of the tense moment when they heard footsteps approaching again. The all turned their attention towards Tina who stopped in front of their booth and reached out her hand to give Rachel their change. She held a firm, challenging gaze into Rachel's eyes for a full five seconds, before turning on her heels and marching away from the table.

The girls looked, a bit scared, at Rachel who was rendered speechless for maybe the first time ever.

Santana broke the silence, "So do we try another séance tonight?"

Rachel's glazed over eyes finally snapped back to the conversation at hand and she exhaled noisily, "It didn't worth last time and it's not going to work this time."

"It'll work" Santana insisted, "This is the one night where the barrier between the living and the dead can be broken. I read it in the encyclopedia of supernatural phenomena" as she nodded with conviction.

Rachel just shook her head, "You are so weird."

Britt grinned mischievously, "I'm in!"

And Quinn nodded with a smile, "Yeah me too" as Rachel just sighed in defeat.

As the girls happily started in on their Black Cows, Britt looked back down at her Cosmo and began to read everyone's horoscopes.

"Quinn- you're a woman on the verge, although your sensuality has yet to be tapped, it is like a volcano ready to erupt. Whoa, everybody look out for Quinn!" Britt said with a giggle. Santana laughed inwardly at this, she couldn't think of a more perfect way to describe Quinn, whose aggression on and off the field Santana could very easily see being put to good use if only she would loosen up a little. A slight blush crept up Rachel's face, though the other girls missed it. She clearly was on the same mind track as Santana, though perhaps for a slightly different reason…

Quinn interrupted Santana's thoughts with a sharp, "That's crap."

Santana's internal laugh became external and she laughed at her friend's blunt response.

Brittany turned towards Santana. "San- you walk the fine line between romanticism and sex appeal- don't be afraid to take the plunge- you might surprise yourself."

Santana replied wryly, "I'll keep that in mind."

"Rachel- let go of your inhibitions, before you dry up like a prune." Read Brittany.

Quinn, Santana and Brittany all glanced back and forth at each other clearly amused as Rachel just sat there, inquisitive and confused.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked. The other girls couldn't contain their amusement any longer as they burst out laughing. Quinn was shaking with laughter as tears streamed from her eyes, and Santana chuckled heartily as they shared a moment of unadulterated merriment.

Britt finally calmed her giggling and started reading the final horoscope. "Now me- Brittany you are a sexual magnet attracting people from the four corners of the world- pace yourself", she finished as a wide grin crept across her face.

Santana quirked her left eyebrow up as she had been reading over Brittany's shoulder as Britt had recited aloud. She noticed that Brittany had changed the word 'men' to 'people', and she sat there wondering if it could mean what she hoped it did.


	6. Pursuit of the Spirit World

**Disclaimer: I don't have any rights to Glee or Now and Then, except the right to fucking love it.**

**A/N: For Gaybee, who consistently bugged me until I updated. Maybe now she'll get off my back haha but it's more likely she'll continue to ride me ;-)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 6: Guide Us in Our Pursuit of the Spirit World<strong>

**Song: Freda Payne- Band of Gold**

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><p>Distant voices hiss and snap. Through her bedroom door Santana hears "This just isn't working." Then an indistinguishable mumbling and then, "I'll get the rest of my things when the kids are out of the house." Her father's words echoes in her head as she hears him storm out of the house. She hears a car door slam and she runs to the window and sees her father tossing a suitcase in the passenger seat of his convertible. He climbed into the car, and she watches as he drives away. <p>

She decided not to tell the others about her father. It may have been foolish, but she actually thought he'd be back- a wishful notion she would hold onto for years. At the time, no one in Lima Heights Adjacent had gotten a divorce, and the last thing she wanted was to be different from her friends. 

* * *

><p>It was after night fall, and the four friends were trudging through the dark cemetery to the clearing by the white stone angel statue, that had become their séance sanctuary. Brittany, in her yellow raincoat, skipped happily, while the others walked solemnly, weaving through the headstones. <p>

"It's freezing, why do we have to do this now?" Rachel whined as Santana set up the blanket and candles in the middle of their little circle. The four girls sat Indian style around a knit blanket Santana had found in her attic, evidence of her mother's younger, wilder days from the early sixties. 

Quinn sighed annoyed, and took off her jacket. "Here, take my coat. Now I'll be cold but maybe you'll shut up", Quinn snapped. 

Santana finished lighting the third candle pillar between them, and directed, "Now hold hands with the person sitting next to you, palm to palm." 

"Let's contact Walt Disney!" exclaimed Brittany excitedly. 

"He didn't cooperate last time", Quinn said, gently disagreeing. 

Rachel retorted dryly, "No one EVER cooperates." 

With a devilish look in her eye, Santana dropped her voice and said mischievously, "I think we should bring back somebody buried in THIS cemetery." 

Quinn peers over Santana's shoulder to a modest headstone behind her. Very sweetly written in cursive is the name of a girl who very curiously had died many years ago at a very young age- THEIR age in fact. 

She was intrigued. "How about Dear Becky?" 

Santana turns to look where Quinn is gazing. She turns back to Britt, Rachel and Quinn and says with a mysterious grin, "Let's find out how she died". 

Britt smirks at the impish look on her best friend's face. She loved how into it San would get, and she loved playing along. Many people thought Brittany was a simpleton, but she knew a lot more than she let on. She didn't care what others thought, and she didn't see the harm in having fun- it didn't hurt anybody. She WANTED to believe, you know? 

"Close your eyes", Santana directed. She began. "Guide us in our pursuit of the spirit world. Keep our circle safe from those who promote evil and seek to harm. Dear Becky, we know you were just a kid when you died… we want to find out how…" 

"I'm heeereee" Britt puts on her best spooky ghost voice, as Quinn punches her arm lightly and Britt gives in and giggles as the other girls laugh. 

As the giggling died down Santana continued with a solemn face, "Dear Becky, can you hear me? If you can hear me give us a sign, let us know. It's okay, we just want to talk to you. Tell us how you died…" 

Silence falls over the girls as they sit in wait; eyes closed, palms touching. Santana and Quinn feel Rachel begin to rock back and forth slowly, but gaining speed. 

"She's here" Rachel sounds frightened. Her eyes remain closed, and her bottom lip is quivering. 

Santana and Quinn open their eyes to look at Rachel, looking startled. 

"She wants to tell us a story", Rachel states eyes still closed tight, body still rocking. 

Concerned, Quinn turns to Santana who is opposite her and asks in a whisper, "Maybe we should stop…" Santana wide-eyed shook her head no and they turned back when Rachel spoke again. 

"She's afraid" 

Santana leans toward her "Tell her not to be afraid, tell her it's okay", she directs as Rachel voice raising in pitch gets louder and interrupts. 

"She's lonely… she needs a friend…" Rachel wails emotionally; her swaying had been increasing this whole time and she was now violently rocking back and forth. 

Britt, Quinn, and Santana look at each other with wide eyes, thoroughly unsettled, quite concerned, and beginning to get upset. Quinn lets go of Rachel and Brittany's hand and is about to break it up despite Santana's urgent motioning not to when Rachel abruptly stops swaying and opens her eyes. 

Rachel smirked and laughed gleefully. "I got you guys!" she managed to blurt in between gasps for air as she laughed uncontrollably. 

Her laughing stopped when it was interrupted by a sharp "OWW!" Quinn had leaned over and punched her hard in the arm in annoyance. "That hurt!" Rachel complained. 

"Yeah well you deserved it fartass", Quinn shot back testily. 

Santana shook her head is disapproval and disappointment. "Don't you ever do that again", she snapped at Rachel. 

"I'm sorry", Rachel apologized, "but you guys are so gullible when it comes to this séance stuff… and besides, this was an excellent opportunity to practice my portrayal of fear and exercise my wide emotional range to demonstrate my superior acting abilities." Quinn and Santana looked at each other and rolled their eyes. "I mean", Rachel continued, "it's all just pretend right?" 

A bolt of lightning cracked through the air and struck the tree besides the large white stone angel statue looking over them, shooting a streak of sparks as an instantaneous downpour fell from the sky. 

Rachel, startled, jumped up screaming and took off faster than her friends had ever seen her move, hauling ass out of the cemetery. 

"Somebody grab her before she has a heart attack!" Brittany exclaimed as she jumped to her feet and ran after the crazed girl. Quinn took off after her and breezed past Brittany who had slowed to turn and yell back, "San! Come on! We gotta get out of here!" 

Santana who had just finished loading the candles and blanket into her satchel began to make her way towards Britt when she glanced back at the previously occupied clearing in the headstones, when she saw another flash which illuminated the cemetery for a brief moment. Was that? She thought to her self, No, couldn't be…" 

Another crack of lightning pierced the sky and Santana swore she saw it again. 

"Hey you guys? There's somebody out there!" Santana yelled over the din of the rain pounding the earth. Britt came up behind her and looked out into the distance. Her brows were furrowed as she searched the darkness. "Over there!" Santana pointed. 

Britt squinted again, but was only half looking- she really wanted to get out of there. She didn't see anything and she was starting to get creeped out. "I don't see anyone! It's probably just the wind or something", she urged Santana pulling her arm, "Come on!" 

Santana couldn't shake the feeling she had seen someone out there in the cemetery, but she allowed Brittany to pull her away as they ran to catch up with Quinn and Rachel. 

* * *

><p>As the girls were walking down the side of the road coming home from the cemetery, the rain ceased as quickly as it started. Their pace became leisurely as the rain disappeared. Quinn jumped into a puddle next to the pavement playfully. <p>

"Quinn why can't you just act like a girl?" Rachel complained. Quinn smirked and jumped into another puddle, this time intentionally splashing it at Rachel. 

Rachel gasped, "Now look what you've done! You know how much I hate to get dirty!" she whined. Quinn suppressed a crude comment and continued to smirk. She rolled her eyes at Rachel while her eyes lit up with amusement. 

"That's nothing", Quinn teased. 

The girls all turned around when they heard the squeak of a rusty bicycle tire growing louder and closer. They all gasp and cling to each other when they see who it is. Santana gasped, "Crazy Beast!" 

The squeak of the tire cycled as monotonously as the steady cycle of peddling, creating a seemingly ethereal moment in time. The girls watch frightened as a large elderly woman surreally moved by them, slow yet steady, never noticing the four pairs of eyes trained on her. Crazy Beast was a legend to the neighborhood kids. None of the kids knew why she was called Crazy Beast, and no one wanted there to be a reason to find out, even if they were curious. The enormous woman had close cropped curly gray hair and narrow, sad eyes. As intimidating as her image was, truth be told the creepiest part about her was that she only came out at night. If you snuck out of your house after hours, the fear of Crazy Beast got you back inside as fast as possible. Nobody wanted to get caught. 

"Let's cut through the field!" Santana squealed. And the four friends turned on their heels and sprinted away as fast as they could. 

* * *

><p>Rachel sat up in the middle of the night and frowned. She was dressed in her favorite pink and white nightgown, and her hair was rolled tight in curlers. The incident earlier that evening had left an uneasy feeling in her stomach. She leaned over to turn on the lamp on the nightstand beside her bed. She glanced around the room nervously, trying to sooth the anxiety that had taken up residence in her gut. <em>This is ridiculous<em>, she thought to herself, as she swung her body over the side of the bed so that she was lying on her stomach, bent down to scope out under the bed. She breathed a little easier knowing nothing was there, but she couldn't shake the apprehensive feeling.

- - - - - - - - - -

At the other end of the block, Santana was reading Babysitter's Club by flashlight again. She pulled her eyes away from Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls when she noticed an oddity arising around her. Wind bristled through the tree branches outside her window, and the room came alive and stirred as the wind gust through the space. And then as quickly as it began, it came to a sudden and immediate stand still. Santana looked around her, and came to a quick decision. She climbed out of bed and walked to the window where she leans out and tugs on a thin white line outside.

- - - - - - - - - -

A bell chimes repetitively and Quinn opens her eyes when her pet Labrador Louie barks softly at the intruding noise. Realizing what was going on, she rose out of bed quickly as to silence Louie from waking her father, and strode over to the window, where an ingeniously jerry-rigged Whee-Lo spun up and down it's track, instigating the chiming of the bell. Quinn immediately reached out to the string attached to the Whee-Lo and gave it three firm tugs. She looked out the window to the house diagonal from here from which the string was run, and followed the white line back to the grim face of Santana who gave her a short nod. Quinn knew what to do. She grabbed the silver flashlight she keeps on her dresser, and leaning on the window frame, directed the light towards the house across the street, next door to Santana's. The light blinked repeatedly, shining out into the darkness.

- - - - - - - - - -

Brittany could not be happier. She was at the pet store playing with all the kitties up for adoption; her mom was going to let her bring on home. She sat on the floor in a small gated area with a dozen baby cats of all colors and patterns running around over her legs and sniffing at her face, rubbing everywhere and anywhere on her skin, begging to be stroked. She picked up the largest one – a big fat cat with grayish brown light stripes and smiled happily. "I pick you! And I shall name you Lord Tubbington, and you shall be my Lord Tubbington", she said in a sing-song voice. She hefted the immense cat up to stare into his green eyes when strangely Lord Tubbington's shining eyes got REALLY shiny. Like beacons of light streaming from a lighthouse flashing every other second. _What is going on?_ Brittany wondered to herself. 

She stirred in her bed, and banged her knee against the wall which woke her up with a start. All of a sudden Lord Tubbington's flashing eyes became a bright light beaming in through her window blinding her. Finally realizing what was going on, Brittany yawned and grabbed an identical flashlight to Quinn's off her bedside table. She looked out the window and her eyes met Quinn's across the way. The light flashed in her eyes for one finally time, illuminating her golden locks flowing down her shoulders as she stretched and let out another huge yawn. Finally successfully awake, she returned the flashlight to the table, and pick up the object standing next to it. 

::Crrrrrshhh chrrrrssssss:: the walkie talkie in her hand jumped to life when she pressed the large button on its side. 

"Base to Rachel, base to Rachel…base to Rachel do you copy?"

- - - - - - - - - -

For the second time that night, Rachel leans over to snap on the lamp on her nightstand. She stretches out blindly to reach for her radio, grumbling. 

"What." She groaned. 

::crrssssh:: "We need a secret meeting", Brittany informed her. 

::chhhhrsssssh:: the walkie talking in Rachel's hand groaned as loudly as she did. 

Rachel let loose an exasperated protest, "Now?" 

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Lolz- Brittany dreams of stroking pussies.**

**REVIEW please! I appreciate it every time!**


	7. It's the Male Curse

Disclaimer: I don't have any rights to Glee or Now and Then, except the right to fucking love it

A/N: Review please! I love hearing feedback :-)

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><p><strong>Chapter 7: It's the Male Curse<strong>

**Song: Tony Orlando & Dawn- Knock Three Times**

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><p>Fifteen minutes later, the girls were trudging through the graveyard, heading back to the site of their séance earlier that evening. Santana began explaining why she called for a secret meeting.<p>

"Remember I thought I saw somebody in the cemetery after the séance?" she asked. "Well… I think she came into my bedroom."

"Who?" Brittany asked curiously.

Santana hesitated for a second, "Dear Becky."

Rachel threw up her arms and rolled her eyes, "Give me a break!" she exclaimed. She looked around her at the headstones, the eerily lit angel statues, and the gentle fog rolling in. "This is a bad idea", she voiced, sounding worried. "This is DEFINITELY not a good idea…" her voice kept on getting higher the more frightened she got, as she worked herself up into a tizzy.

"Shut up Rachel, you're bugging the crap out of me right now" Quinn complained as she stepped around a large headstone as they neared the clearing.

Britt piped up "Ditto!"

All of a sudden Santana tripped, and all of the girls gasped in concern, "San!" they exclaimed. As their eyes adjusted to the situation before them, they gasped again- but this time in fear. Santana was sprawled across a headstone that had been knocked down, and cracked in half, straight down the middle. When Santana rose to brush herself off they were able to clearly read

**Rest in Peace**

**Dear Becky**

**May 22, 1933 - June 10, 1945**

"Holy Cow!" both of Quinn's hands covered each of her cheeks in shock as she couldn't contain her incredulity.

Brittany's eyes sparkled as she jumped up and down, "We did it! We actually did it!"

Rachel just stood there, eyes wide in dismay, staring at the broken stone in front of them.

Santana's eyes traveled from Quinn to Brittany to Rachel, and back again. "She's back" her undertone ominous, "and we brought her here".

Suddenly an owl which had been perched on the stone angel's shoulder, swooped down screeching a war cry at what must have been a field mouse, but all the girls hear was the sharp shriek that rang out towards them and they all instantly screamed in the panic of the moment and ran away as fast as they could. 

* * *

><p>The next day Quinn, Rachel and Brittany sat on the curb outside of the Lima Heights Adjacent Library happily licking away at the push pop ice creams they had just gotten from the convenience store while they were waiting for Santana to finish up in the library. Santana finally strode out the front door exiting the library.<p>

"Nothing on Dear Becky", she announced as she sat down between Quinn and Rachel. Brittany handed her the push pop she had gotten for San while they were waiting, and Santana shot her a warm smile in thanks.

"Everything before 1948 was lost in the fire", she explained, "but Miss Emma says the Greenfield Library carries copies of all the county newspapers."

Rachel shrugged her shoulders, "Well that settles that".

Santana cocked her head towards Rachel, "What settles what?"

"We can't ride our bikes all the way to Greenfield", she says decidedly, savoring her ice cream. All the girls looked at her, until she looked up from her push pop and then back and forth at her three friends, "…can we?" 

* * *

><p><em>"No matter what you are, I will always be with you, doesn't matter what you do girl, oooh girl with you!"<em> filtered over the radio suspended from the front of Brittany's bicycle. The girls were laughing and singing along, on their way to Greenfield, and even Rachel was having fun despite her initial reluctance.

All the girls were giggling and Britt put both her feet up on the handlebars of her bike.

Quinn rode her mother's old red bike; it was simple with a headlight on the front and a clamp for carrying things over her back tire. It was practical and straight to the point, just like Quinn. It was perfect for when she snuck out late to play softball with the boys, and she often left her old mitt strapped into the clamp over her rear wheel.

Rachel's bicycle had a white woven basket on front for when she would collect flowers for her dads for their dinner table. With matching pink and white streamers coming off the handles and a large silver bell, Rachel's bike couldn't fit her personality better.

As they rode under an overpass, a train went by drowning out the radio for a minute, but not their spirits as they continued goofing off on their journey to Greenfield.

"Look, no hands!" Brittany squealed in delight and Santana glanced over at her and laughed, smiling, at the look of joy plastered across Brittany's face.

Fields of green pastures passed them by, as they came upon a random general store on their way. Three old men wearing bow ties and suspenders lounged in lawn chairs around a makeshift table playing cards. Brittany giggled at their funny outfits and then squealed happily when she noticed an old hound dog lying near their feet. She jumped off her bicycle, letting it drop to the ground, and the other girls slowed to a stop, flicking out their kickstands and making their way over to a picnic bench out front. Santana went inside and bought them four colas from inside, and when she made her way back out, Brittany was seated at the picnic bench next to Quinn grinning mischievously.

"Truth or dare Quinn" she questioned.

Quinn rolled her eyes, readjusting her navy blue headband. "Truth", she sighed.

Brittany bounced with excitement; this was clearly the choice she was hoping for. "How big _are_ your boobs now?" she asked looking down at Quinn's chest, and then back up again to meet hazel eyes staring at her in disapproval.

"Drop dead", Quinn retorted as Santana approached the table carrying the four glass bottles she had just purchased.

"She has to say, doesn't she San?" Britt whined.

Trying to be diplomatic, "She doesn't _have_ to say if she doesn't _want_ to" Santana responded as her eyes unintentionally flickered to Quinn's chest as well. Ironically even though Quinn was the biggest tomboy of the bunch, she seemed to go through puberty faster than the other girls, and Brittany hadn't been the only one to notice the change in Quinn's chest. Santana realized she was staring at her friend and embarrassed, she pulled her eyes upwards.

"Well then can we see them?" Brittany's voice startled Santana out of her thoughts.

"No you cannot see them!" Quinn said indignantly.

Rachel interjected, "Weirdo!"

Brittany sighed. "I don't have any real ones yet", she lamented.

Quinn side-eyed her, and took pity on the sad face that had crawled onto Brittany's face. "Well you'll get them… and you'll hate them."

"No you're lucky Quinn" Brittany explained, "I love them when they're big! Look at how big mine are today", she said proudly, smoothing down her shirt and sitting up straight. She pushed her chest out and turned from side to side so the other girls could observe.

Santana raised her eyebrows and nodded thoughtfully, "Wow they almost look real."

Brittany laughed and reached into her flowery, blue and yellow blouse and pulled out a balloon.

Quinn, Santana and Rachel stared at it in amazement.

"It's filled with pudding", she informed them.

Santana eyes widened in surprise. "Pudding" she repeated disbelievingly.

Brittany smirked and chuckled, "The Wormers actually gave me the idea." She handed the balloon over to San sitting opposite her, who squeezed it, still in amazement, and then chuckled herself.

"Jello is too jiggly… pudding has a heavier, more realistic texture" she explained as she gestured with her hands in front of her chest to add emphasis.

As they passed around the balloon, each girl testing it out, Brittany began her game again.

"Rachel, truth or dare."

Now it was Rachel's turn to sigh. "Truth", she groaned.

That mischievous look took over Brittany's face again. "Have you ever been French kissed?" she asked with one eyebrow raised in challenging amusement.

Next to her Quinn looked over at Britt in shock.

Rachel gasped, "Are you kidding? I don't want to get pregnant!"

Quinn turned her eyes from Brittany towards Rachel and shot back with an amused tone, "You can't get pregnant from kissing".

Rachel rolled her eyes and resigned herself to explaining. "I know that beetle brain. But it's common knowledge that if you tongue kiss a boy, he automatically thinks you'll do the deed with him." At this Santana, Quinn, and Brittany shared a knowing glance at each other as Rachel continued. "They can't help it, they're driven. It's the male curse."

Brittany looked at Quinn, and then turned toward Santana raising her eyebrows conspiratorially sharing an unspoken message with San, who knows exactly what Britt's communicating and Santana says innocently, "And uh, what deed would that be?" attempting to goad Rachel into explaining, knowing that it would be hilarious.

Rachel looks at them uneasily. "You know…" she says hesitantly, "…planting the seed and watering the flower."

The other girls try to suppress their amusement, not succeeding very well and Brittany choked on her cola.

Rachel looks at them, annoyed by this response, and starts speaking more determined. "Isn't that how it works? The man takes his watering can and sprinkles it on the flower..."

Before she can continue Quinn and Brittany bust out laughing. Santana opens her eyes wide and takes a drink of her coke in amused shock, trying to suppress her "oh wow" face. Laughter drowns out Rachel's protests, and the girls' spirits are lifted even higher than before. This adventure to Greenfield had been a great idea.


End file.
